Liu Xian, Fu Qian and other generals were so eager to achieve a great victory that they transferred almost all the main forces of the Xuanwei Army in Huaichuan to Jiaopi in an attempt to inflict heavy casualties on Zhong Changqing's troops to resolve the crisis.
In addition to the 300 bodyguards and soldiers of the Xuanwei Army who had less than 500 soldiers in one battalion, the largest force was the 800 local swordsman and archers under the jurisdiction of Weisi in Huaichuan County.
These sword archers are usually dispatched to take on various chores other than catching thieves and taking advantage of others. You can only imagine how powerful they are in combat.
All the troops will be summoned to the Beicheng Tower. In addition to Xu Ling, the county captain, Fu Liang, the commander of the Xuanwei military camp, and Chen Su, the deputy commander of the Xingyuan camp, there will be a total of nineteen people.
Xu Huai told Liu Xian at the North City Gate Tower that Fu Qian had suffered a defeat at Jiaopi, and he deliberately downplayed it. After hearing this, the generals felt much at ease.
However, whether it is the Xuanwei army general, the Xingyuan barracks general, or the county Weisi general, it seems that they are just barely separated from the military official class. But think about the people in Chushan before the rise, in the local and camp.
Most of them are not as good as generals in terms of status, and who would be deceived by such simple words?
Especially on the Beicheng Tower side, several of Fu Liang's generals have already spoken to the defeated soldiers who fled to the city. They all know in their hearts that the defeat of Jiao Pi is devastating. They don't know whether one or two thousand people will be able to escape in the end.
The remaining soldiers came out.
It can be said that they were completely wiped out.
However, it can be said that the enemy army was completely unscathed, and they could even mobilize more troops and horses from the west of Ru River and the east of Ying River to advance towards Huaichuan.
There are only less than two thousand weak soldiers in Huaichuan City.
There was not much space in the tower, and a few large candles were lit, making the light dim.
Xu Huai sat in the middle, Chen Zixiao sat behind the desk beside Xu Huai's right hand, Shi Hu, Xu Zang, Niu Er and six other bodyguards stood behind Xu Huai with their swords pressed.
Xu Huai drew out a small area with his left hand. Meng Jie, Xu Kang, Cheng Xiao, and Huaichuan Magistrate Han Qiwen sat together for two tables. Apart from these four people, although there were several civil servants with official status, they were all the same.
Standing behind the four men, Meng, Xu, Cheng and Han, listened to the matter.
On Xu Huai's right hand, Meng, Xu, Cheng and Han bowed their heads. Several cases were lined up in two rows. Xu Huai invited Xu Ling, Fu Liang, Chen Su and other generals to sit down one by one.
At that time, civility was used to govern military affairs, and civility was used to control military affairs. Although all generals were included in the general class, and the generals of the Forbidden Army basically had to be awarded the military rank of casual rank, let alone the generals of the Xuanwei Army and the county captains and generals who did not have the military rank of casual rank at all.
Generals, even Fu Liang, Xu Ling, and Chen Su, even if their military ranks are basically at the eighth level, or even higher, their status is inferior to the county magistrate and the low-level officials of the supervisory department.
In the more than 150 years since the founding of the Dai Viet dynasty, has there ever been a situation where the county magistrate and other officials stood aside while commanding envoys and other capitals to sit down to discuss matters?
However, at least at this time, the Huaichuan County Magistrate and other officials were full of opinions, but no one dared to show it on their faces.
The officials of the Jingbei Supervisory Department were just that. Initially, Emperor Jianji planned to hand over the entire Guangzhou to Xu Huai's jurisdiction. Officials from Huaichuan, Huangchuan and Guangshan counties had already inquired about all the rumors about Xu Huai over the years.
Get it crystal clear.
They all wanted to hang up their boots and leave, wanting to stay far away and not have anything to do with the powerful and arrogant Xu Huai and the people in Chushan.
What's more, now everyone expects Xu Huai's thigh to be able to hug him?
"Huaichuan City has less than two thousand defenders, and I only have a thousand reinforcements ambushing the city. The enemy will definitely spare no effort to attack tonight. This time
The battle is really not easy. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Huaichuan are tied to you. Please accept Xu Huai's bow first!" General Xu Huai pushed the long case forward, and Shi Shiran stood up, cupped his hands and bowed deeply to the generals.
.
Seeing Xu Huai stand up and salute a group of military leaders who were unfamiliar with them, Meng Jie, Xu Kang, Cheng Xiao, and Han Qiwen were all startled, and quickly stood up and saluted: "Please generals, please accept Meng Jie (Xu Kang, Cheng
Xiao (Han Qiwen) pays homage!"
When Xu Ling, Fu Liang, Chen Su and all the other officials were about to enter the tower, their moods were complicated. At this time, they all hurriedly stood up and returned the courtesy, expressing repeatedly that they did not dare to accept the courtesy.
After Xu Huai sat back at the table again, he invited everyone to sit down and talk. He stared at Xu Ling and other generals with burning eyes and asked: "Xu Weisi, do you have a family in the city? Do you have any relatives among the generals?"
In the city? The Red Hu people invaded the south and the city of Huaichuan was destroyed. If the generals had their families and relatives in the city, how tragic would their fate be? Don’t you need me to explain more?"
Chen Zixiao's situation was quite special. Everyone in Tongbai Mountain and even ordinary soldiers were ostracized by him, so he surrendered to Chu Mountain. Xu Huai did not use him to directly command the army, but shared the responsibility with Zhou Jing to investigate military intelligence.
Xu Ling, the captain of Huaichuan County, was born as a military official. His ability to serve as the captain of Huaichuan County was closely related to his origin in the Xu family of Huaichuan.
Although after the fall of Bianliang City, many prominent clans in Huaichuan moved their families to Jinghu, Xu Ling, as the Huaichuan County Captain, could not move south, and his family and children also stayed in Huaichuan City, and there were many others.
The clan members are all in Huaichuan City.
In addition to Xu Ling, the nine generals in the county Weisi were also from Huaichuan local clans.
Although Chushan did not have a detailed grasp of the situation in Huaichuan, it was not necessary to think about the situation in Huaichuan, but they must all have children or relatives in Huaichuan City.
The prisoners attacked all night long. It was impossible to have siege equipment, but with two thousand soldiers and horses, it was enough to defend Huaichuan City. The difficulty was how to stabilize the stragglers. After hearing that the main force of Xuanwei Army had been wiped out,
The hearts of the defenders will be like frightened birds.
The personal combat effectiveness of Xu Ling and the county captains and generals seems to be worse than that of Fu Liang, Chen Su and others, but at this level, they are more reliable.
Xu Huai's words were very straightforward. As a general of the Jingsheng Army, I would not hesitate to put myself in danger and fight to the death to protect your wives, children, and children. Do you sons of turtles have the nerve to shrink your eggs?
Although Xu Huai's entry into the city could not stop everyone from thinking wildly, Xu Ling and others finally became less panicked when Xu Huai entered the city and heard that more than a thousand elite soldiers from Chu Mountain were ambushing them on one side.
At this time, hearing what Xu Huai said, Xu Ling and the county captains and officials all had their families and relatives in the city. They immediately walked from behind the case to the front of the hall, knelt down on one knee in front of Xu Huai, and said: "I swear to follow Xu Hou and stick to my humble position."
Huaichuan, for my family, for my relatives, and for the hundreds of thousands of people in Huaichuan, I will die!"
"Okay!" Xu Huai applauded as he clattered several cases with his hands, "Ms. Xu Wei, Marquis Wen Hengyue, and Qian Zerui Langjun guarded Taiyuan City with a weak brigade of 5,000, and captured tens of thousands of soldiers and abandoned their corpses.
We have been under the Taiyuan City for a year and have been unable to defeat it. What's the secret? It's just that the top and bottom are united and would rather be broken into pieces than surrender to the enemy. As Xu Weisi and other generals have said, why can't we defend Huaichuan City?"
Xu Huai looked at the officials standing behind Meng Jie, Xu Kang, Cheng Xiao, Han Qiwen and others, and said:
"I invite Xu Weisi and the generals to sit in the hall. You gentlemen may have been a little dissatisfied at first, but now you have figured it out? The wealth and life of me and you all depend on Xu Weisi and the generals fighting to protect each other.
, How dare you be disrespectful?"
"What Xu Hou said is true!"
The officials responded quickly.
"Are you still worried that Huaichuan City can't be defended?" Xu Huai asked.
"Marquis Xu is here, and Wei Si and the generals are fighting to the death to defend the city. I am not afraid!" the officials responded.
Although Meng Jie, Xu Kang, Cheng Xiao and others still had their own thoughts, at this time the atmosphere of depression and panic in the hall was swept away, and the generals and officials suddenly cheered up, and they all had to admit that Xu Huai was exuding.
The infectiousness is amazing.
The situation in front of them also made them feel a little calmer.
They also knew in their hearts that, as Xu Huai said, Huaichuan City may not seem to have many defenders, but if they are really dedicated and have a high wall to rely on, they really are not afraid of not being able to defend it even for a night.
"Xu Weisi, I am keeping you in charge of Nancheng. Anyone who makes a noise out of the city and disrupts the morale of our army will be killed immediately. If anyone escapes from the city, I will take your head to hold you accountable. Do you understand?"
Xu Huai looked at Xu Ling and said.
"I humbly obey Xu Hou's order!" Xu Ling responded in a loud voice.
Huaichuan City was built on the bank of the Huaihe River. The south city gate was very close to the dock, which did not give the enemy cavalry much room to maneuver. The pressure it imposed could be said to be the lightest. However, once the Japanese troops attacked, the Xuanwei Army was defeated.
The news spread throughout the city, but the panicked crowd was the first to want to escape from the South City Gate, not even the Xuanwei Army generals and some officials in the city who wanted to escape from the South City Gate.
If you want to fight with your back, anyone who wants to escape through the south city gate will be killed immediately.
Xu Huai has no manpower around him, so using Xu Ling is more reliable than using Fu Liang or Chen Su!
In addition to using Xu Ling to guard the south gate, Xu Huai also sent Fu Liang and Chen Su to guard the east and west gates respectively. There were wilderness on both sides of the city. After a large number of cavalry came to cover up the attack, Fu Liang and Chen Su
At least all the troops had no way to escape from the east and west gates.
Of the sixteen soldiers and horses in the capital, Xu Huai arranged two in the south city, four in each of the east and west cities, he personally led four in the north city, and the other two served as a reserve force and were stationed near the north city.
After all, the soldiers of the Xuanwei Army were well-trained and deployed mainly to the east and west cities, with only one capital in the north city.
After all, Chen Su's troops were selected from among the Xuanwei Army soldiers through strict standards. If they could really bring out their combat effectiveness, they would not be much worse than the elite soldiers of Chushan.
In addition to three squads each for Fu Liang, Xu Ling, and Chen Su as personal soldiers in these three capitals, Xu Huai left 60 people beside him, and the other 150 people were organized into reserve teams. Shi Hu,
Xu Pan and two of his soldiers will be in command.
Xu Huai wants to stay with Meng Jie and Xu Kang to stay in Beicheng and burn the bonfire louder and brighter. It is best for the whole city's soldiers and civilians to see them. Chen Zixiao can only come with Cheng Xiao on his behalf.
Deploy defense everywhere.
Of course, Huaichuan City is still too big.
Huaichuan is located on the south bank of the Huai River. In the early years, it was the seat of Xizhou Prefecture. After the abolition of Xizhou, it belonged to Caizhou. However, the city was built according to the prefecture standard. It is also where the Ru River meets the Huai River. It has prosperous commercial ports and a prosperous population.
.
The soldiers of the Sixteenth Capital garrison were scattered and their combat power was limited. It was difficult to ensure that there were no omissions. However, there were so many refugees in the city. Many of them were from Huaichuan locals and clansmen who had fled from the north. They had a lot of control over them.
After training, Zhuang Dingzhaiyong was even quite good at it.
Xu Huai also sent Han Qiwen, the magistrate of Huaichuan, with officials who were familiar with the place and more than two hundred government servants, to immediately summon these Zhuangdingzhai brave men to climb the city wall to supplement the shortage of troops...
